DAY 5: I HIT THE GOLDEN 10,000 STEPS ... I THINK

TODAY I go for a big run around the park. Afterwards four of the devices reward me with motivational messages because I have passed the 10,000 step mark.

The significance of this is that it is the mark the NHS recommends we hit every single day, as a minimum for fitness.

The odd device out is the Beurer, which I’m disappointed to see claims I’ve fallen short. However there’s a discrepancy in the number of calories they say I’ve used, with Misfit showing that I’d burned 2,475 calories, 791 more than the Beurer device.

So has my run paid off with some potential weight loss for today or not?

According to the Misfit, it has. But according to the Beurer, I will still need to be working harder.

THE Misfit was consistently the most favourable when tracking my calories, and the Beurer the least.

The difference between the two was 11,656 steps and 1,892 calories (a daily intake for a woman) by the end of the test.

Although the Garmin said I’d taken fewer steps (39,754) than the Fitbit, it claimed the highest distance travelled (18.24 miles), just over 12 miles more than the Beurer (6.17 miles). Confusing.

When we asked the companies about the results, Garmin admitted: ‘The data and information is intended to be a close estimation of activity but may not be completely accurate.’

A Fitbit spokesman said: ‘Fitbit trackers are not scientific or medical devices. They enable people to see their overall health and fitness trends over time.’

Beurer UK said results were a ‘rough-and-ready’ guide and that users should accept there were margins of error.

Jawbone claimed the UP3 was ‘among some of the most accurate trackers’, with an algorithm that performs for ‘the counting of true steps as well as avoiding false positives’.

A Misfit spokesman said: ‘Independent scientists have confirmed our devices are as accurate as many of the scientific devices they use as standards for studies in exercise physiology.’